French Montana is back. The Bad Boy rapper will drop the sixth installation of his Coke Boy mixtape series later this week. The project will be in collaboration with DJ Drama and released as a Gansta Grillz mixtape. Coke Boy 6 is expected to drop on Friday, January 6. The DJ and record executive announced the forthcoming project on Instagram yesterday (January 2), writing, “2023 New Year… Same Hustle” in the caption.
The mixtape was initially slated for a December release date, but it was pushed back for unforeseen reasons. Coke Boys 6 will serve as French’s first full-length project since 2022’s Montega LP, which dropped back in June 2022.
Outside of music, the “No Shopping” rapper has been focused on his philanthropic side, raising over $200 million for the Ugandan healthcare system. French Montana was bestowed with the “Innovator Award” while attending the annual Pencils Of Promise Gala at the Museum Of The Moving Image in New York City this past October.
“MAKING MORE HISTORY FOR MY PEOPLE!” he wrote on Instagram back in October. “Thank you, @pencilsofpromise, for honoring me with the Innovator Award at last night’s gala. Healthcare and education is a fundamental part of our human rights and should be accessible across the globe.”
The new year did not start well for Jeremy Renner. On Sunday, the Oscar-nominated actor was hospitalized after a “traumatic injury” involving a snow plow, which sent him to the ICU. Details at the time were thin on the ground, but now we know more. For one thing, he may have been hurt while being a good Samaritan. For another, his injuries were even worse than previously reported.
As per CNN, Renner was at one of his homes in Washoe County, Nevada, which was hit with three feet of snow. The MCU actor was clearing his driveway so that family members, visiting for the holidays, could leave. His family was with him at the time of the accident, his publicist says. The Reno Gazette Journalreported on Monday that he was assisting a stranded motorist, but that has yet to be confirmed or denied.
It’s still unclear exactly what happened, but an early report claimed that he’d run over one of his legs with the plow. Later it was revealed that he suffered “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.” He is currently in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital, where he is recovering from two separate surgeries, where it’s been reported that he’s in “critical but stable condition.”
More details will surely emerge later, but in the meantime, best of luck to Jeremy Renner.
Cardi B channeled her inner emo kid as she appeared at a massive party at Miami’s E11even nightclub to ring in the new year.
While she gave a solo performance of her hit collab with Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP,” she also took some time to reminisce on some songs of years’ past. After all, they don’t call it Rockin’ Eve for nothing.
“Anything you wanna hear, ’cause that’s just who I am this week,” Cardi sings to the crowd with a glass of champagne in hand. “Lying in bed, next to the mausoleum.” While she didn’t get exactly all the words right, the video is so fun that you can’t help but acknowledge her effort.
Fans greatly enjoyed the wild crossover too. “Cardi B singing Fall Out boy is so real I love her,” one person tweeted.
Back in September, Cardi posted some throwback pics of herself in high school, and claimed that she while she might not have called herself emo, she was close with them. “The emo kids in school were actually really cool and will give me free cigarettes,” she wrote.
Ghetto teenager……fun fact -The emo kids in school were actually really cool and will give me free cigarettes pic.twitter.com/K44qpr75Yh
There are plenty of predictable reasons a New Year’s Eve fireworks show might get canceled, but “let’s let the walrus sleep” isn’t one of them.
That’s exactly what happened in the U.K. town of Scarborough, however, as residents rang in 2023.
According to British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a walrus was sighted on a boat ramp in Scarborough around 11:30 p.m. on December 30. The wildlife rescuers had hoped that the male walrus—nicknamed Thor—would rest for a bit and then slip back into the harbor by the time the public woke up the next morning. Instead, he got comfy and decided to park it for a while.
Authorities cordoned off the area to prevent anyone from messing with Thor, and as news spread of the walrus’s presence, thousands of people came to see him. It’s not every day that an Arctic walrus shows up in the middle of a British town.
“Kind public asked many questions, offered and bought hot drinks and food, and expressed their appreciation of Thor being protected, with the overwhelming majority being immeasurably respectful to our visitor,” shared British Divers Marine Life Rescue.
During the night, Thor appeared to be agitated by some passing cars and lights, which led wildlife rescuers and local council members to reconsider the town’s New Year’s Eve fireworks show. Not wanting to cause stress to the walrus, they agreed to cancel the fireworks display “without hesitation.”
“Please be respectful of his rest and try not to disturb him. While it is a very exciting opportunity for us, naturally they do not like lots of noise and are not familiar with domestic animals so please keep pets on leads and remain a safe distance for your own welfare and his. Hopefully within a few days he will have got enough rest to move on and continue his adventures North!”
As it turns out, Thor did return to the sea after his respite in Scarborough and showed up in Blyth, another British town 70 miles north of Scarborough, a couple of days later.
Dan Jarvis, director of welfare and conservation at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, told the BBC that Thor was “heading in the right direction,” which is good, but that walruses increasingly being seen in European waters could be a sign of climate change causing a loss of sea ice. Walruses feed mainly on cockles, clams and mussels on the seafloor, but they use sea ice to rest and to digest their meals. With less sea ice in their habitat, they may wander to find land on which to rest.
Having a walrus interacting with humans can also lead to tragedy for either people or the walrus. Freya, a wandering walrus who kept hoisting herself onto boats around Northern Europe in the summer of 2022, was euthanized by Norwegian authorities who deemed her a danger to the public.
As climate change creates more and more unexpected wildlife encounters, people will have to defer to experts on how to handle them. But when it comes to fireworks, even local wildlife and pets can find them stressful. Fireworks displays have been shown to cause panic responses in birds and can result in pets trying to flee otherwise familiar environments out of fear. And according to The Humane Society, “Wildlife rehabilitation centers are often flooded with traumatized, injured and orphaned wild animals after the holiday.” As an alternative, many cities are exploring replacing fireworks with drone light displays.
Kudos to the town of Scarborough for putting the well-being of Thor ahead of its traditional New Year’s Eve celebration, and kudos to the public as well for heeding the call to not disturb the walrus during his respite. Here’s hoping Thor continues his way north and makes it back to his Arctic home safe and sound.
There were a lot of strange movie rollouts in 2022, thanks to the great post-pandemic selections that were racing to make it into the theaters. One of the more perplexing moves was Netflix going ahead with a very short theatrical release for Glass Onion in November, then making it available on the streamer a month later just in time for you to force your dad to watch it because he really likes puzzles.
The move was risky, but early streaming numbers seem promising! The Knives Out sequel racked up 127.25 million hours watched in just its second week on the streamer, sitting only behind Red Notice and Don’t Look Up. That brings the total viewing numbers up to 209.4 million hours (or about 19 million trips from New York to Greece). Considering the fact that this data is just after the first 10 days, the movie will likely surpass those titles. Nobody should tell The Rock, though. He’s already going through a lot.
Despite the experimental release, Johnson had expressed his desire to keep the film in theaters longer in order for more fans to have that experience. “I’d love it to be [in theaters] longer; I’d love it to be in more theaters,” Johnson recently told The Hollywood Reporter, adding when the movie hits Netflix, it will be able to reach a wider audience. “I appreciate that Netflix has done this, because this was a huge effort on their part, and the theater chains, to reach across the aisle and make this happen. I’m hoping it does really well so we can demonstrate that they can complement each other.” It clearly worked!
It’s unclear if Netflix will want to do the same type of release with the third film in the franchise, which is also set to get a Netflix release sometime in the coming years. Hopefully, Hugh Grant will sign on to star in that one when he’s done with Paddington 3 (if I type it, it will happen).
Finding a good cheap Scotch whisky can be tough. There’s a lot of junk on the shelf right next to gems. And the words “glen” or “loch” or “malt” on the label aren’t an indicator of quality on any level. You kind of have to know where the good stuff is and that’s where I come in. I’m lucky enough to get to sample tons of whiskies every year which means I tend to find the stuff that truly does stand out at every price point.
To that end, it’s time for a list of the best Scotch whiskies under $30. For this endeavor, I’m starting at the lowest end that you can really go with decent Scotch whisky in the U.S. From here, I’ll take on the Scotch whisky world in $10 increments while filing in the best Scotch whisky — blended and single malts — along the way. But before we get to all of that, let’s talk about the bottom-shelf stuff that clocks in under $30.
Let’s not kid ourselves with what Scotch whisky at this price point means — these are the whiskies that are made for mixing. These are whiskies that you cut with Coke, fizzy water, and/or into a cocktail. Most of them are built for that purpose only and have zero function otherwise. Let’s not pretend that there are some hidden gems listed below that are going to rival whiskies that cost $20, $50, or $100 more. Hell, there are whiskies that cost $10 more that blow these whiskies out of the water… but I’ll get to those next time, when I’m covering the best whiskies under $40.
Lastly, please note that price in whisk(e)y is a constantly moving target. These whiskies are priced according to my local Total Wine in Kentucky in January 2023. The price of these bottles may vary slightly higher or lower depending on whatever region that you live in. Okay, let’s dive in and find you a solid and cheap Scotch whisky for your bar cart!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
This blended scotch from Loch Lomond is as bottom shelf as you can get in the U.S. That said, this blend takes barrels of grain and malt whiskies from the famed Loch Lomond distillery and aims them towards a fruity and sweet nature before proofing and blending.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A slight note of bourbon vanilla shines through on the nose with hints of citrus, almonds, and watered-down honey — kind of like stirring honey into a tepid glass of tap water.
Palate: The palate has a mix of dried fruits — raisins, prunes, and maybe dates — with more watered-down honey syrup, a touch of Almond Joy, and a hint of mulled wine.
Finish: The end leans into the dried fruit and mulled wine spices with a final note of what feels like smoked honey.
Bottom Line:
This whisky won Double Gold at the famed San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022. Does that make it the best whisky from Scotland, of course not. It does however make it a decent blended scotch worth using as a base mixer for bolder flavors like Coke, ginger ale, or fruity lemonades.
This is sort of like a beginner’s whisky that utilizes malt whisky from the Highlands. The whisky is built to highlight the sweeter side of whiskies from the region.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a touch of sweet honey that leads towards a hint of lemon peels, mild oak, and dried tobacco leaves with an echo of vanilla.
Palate: The taste has this nutty and honey vibe that’s kind of like Honey Nut Cheerios with the malt creating a backbone for the sip, as very mild hints of spice chime in.
Finish: The finish is pretty short, warm, and sweet thanks to that honey but, ultimately, slightly watery.
Bottom Line:
This is a simple mixing whisky. It’s easy-going and doesn’t have the steely astringency of many of the bottles around the same price point on the shelf right next to it.
Willam Grant & Sons have a deep bench of whisky distilleries to draw their malt and grain whiskies from for this expression, which includes The Balvenie, Glenfiddich, and Girvan (Scotland’s largest producer of grain whisky). The ripple with this blend is the triple barreling with new oak, American oak, and re-fill American oak, the latter two both being ex-bourbon casks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The sip opens with clear butterscotch next to an almost tin can vibe with a hint of spicy and honeyed malts.
Palate: The palate is slightly fruity with apple core and stem notes next to more of that spiced malt and butterscotch with a soft mineral water note.
Finish: The end is malty but only just barely as the apple core, honey, and butterscotch fade away pretty quickly.
Bottom Line:
This is a great option if you’re looking for a standard highball whisky. Add a little fizzy water, ice, and a citrus twist and you’re all set.
This whisky was created back in the 1970s when Johnnie Walker discontinued Johnnie Red for a spell. The whisky is a blend of 40 Highland and Speyside whiskies that are up to 15 years old with a mild peat backbone.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a nose full of apple hand pies with plenty of cinnamon spice, brown sugar syrup, and buttery pie crust next to a hint of light chocolate powder.
Palate: The taste leans more into a gingersnap warmth with an echo of Nutella that’s more hazelnut than chocolate and a slight touch of smoked apricots.
Finish: The finish leans into that smoked stone fruit but then sweetens towards a maple syrup note that’s short but impactful.
Bottom Line:
This is another solid bet for whisky and Cokes or standard highballs with good mineral water and a touch of citrus.
This is a release from Diageo that utilizes a lot of Speyside whiskies. Eight single malts are chosen for this blend to highlight the small region within the Scottish Highlands specifically.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is classic Speyside from nose to finish with apple and honey dominating the whole way through.
Palate: The palate adds a warm oaty malt and spice next to a very slight nuttiness and maybe a touch of orange marmalade. Imagine an oatmeal-walnut scone with a dollop of that jam on top and you’ll be there.
Finish: The end is short, spicy warm, and slightly honeyed.
Bottom Line:
This is very “Speyside” forward with all that honey and apple. Overall, this is built for making a nice highball with good fizzy water and a nice garnish.
Johnnie Walker’s entry point expression is also the best-selling scotch expression on the planet. The whisky is a blend from Diageo’s deep stable of distilleries around Scotland that’s specifically designed to be mixed and not taken straight.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose reminds you more of a sweet and citrusy Speyside or Highland whisky.
Palate: The palate holds onto those notes while adding a peppery spice and a hint of orchard fruits.
Finish: The end shifts towards Islay with a wisp of smoke as the sip fades quickly away while warming you with alcohol heat.
Bottom Line:
This is the original highball whisky from Johnnie Walker. This is built to be a mixer specifically so treat it as such. It does make a hell of a whisky and Coke.
The Famous Grouse is an old-school blend that got its start in a Scottish grocery store where grocers often blended their own whiskies to sell. The whisky is now a mix of single malts and single grains with a focus on parent company partners Highland Park and The Macallan.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a Christmas cake nose that’s spicy, fruity, and malty and supported by a note of citrus.
Palate: The palate keeps those nose notes rolling with an additional whisper of oak and a hint of malted cookies dipped in lightly smoke honey.
Finish: The end is short and creamy with a distant wisp of campfire smoke far off in the distance.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice step toward peatier blended malts. It’s very well-balanced and perfect for highball sipping.
Dewar’s blends malt and grain whiskies from over 40 distilleries with the famed Aberfeldy at its core. The whisky is blended and then aged for an additional six months in oak to marry all the flavors before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a matrix of vanilla, oak, and caramel up top that leads towards malts and Christmas spices with an emphasis on nutmeg.
Palate: That vanilla gets very creamy and a sweet, almost peanut brittle edge arrives with a little dried fruit.
Finish: The mid-palate holds onto that sweetness as the maltiness and warmth come back for a fairly quick fade toward the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is edging toward “on the rocks” territory but truly shines as a highball whisky with a real depth to it. That said, you can also take a shot of this with a beer back (preferably pale ale or bitter) and you’ll be all set.
This single malt from the famed Highland distillery, Glenmorangie, is built to be the ultimate single malt mixing whisky. They don’t release much else about the blend, besides it being a mix of their iconic single malts “made for mixers.”
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of grapefruit pith next to ripe pears and vanilla pods, all in equal measure, next to a hint of orange oils and maybe a little wildflower.
Palate: The palate builds on that orange towards a bright orange sherbert, a vanilla pudding creaminess, burnt sugars, light and sweet marzipan, and a touch of dark chocolate infused with red chili flakes.
Finish: The finish really leans into the spicy chocolate and gets slightly bitter as the spice mellows towards mulled wine spices and a touch more sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is made to be mixed so mix it into your favorite Scotch whisky cocktails. Start with a penicillin and go from there. You won’t be disappointed.
The whisky in the bottle is a blend of sherry-cask-finished whiskies from The Macallan, The Glenrothes, and Highland Park. The whisky is then cut down to a very accessible 80-proof and then bottled in a nicely understated bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sweet malt buried under a buttery scone dripping with raspberry jam with a touch of light spice lurking in the background.
Palate: The sherry really kicks in on the palate with big notes of dates soaked in black tea next to creamy caramel, vanilla cake, and a touch of dry raisins.
Finish: The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and leaves you with a lovely note of chocolate-covered cherries with a sweet/dry vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is the closest you’re going to get to a sipper at this price point. You can pour this over a big glass of rocks and it’ll be pretty tasty (a truly solid B). But you really want to mix this into whisky-forward cocktails or highballs more than anything else.
Among murder dolls, who would win in a fight to the death: Chucky or M3GAN? (Annabelle wasn’t invited because, as Megan Thee Stallion astutely put it, “bitch your OVER.”) They have both their killing strengths — and killer fashion — but horror mogul Jason Blum knows who he’s siding with. “There’s no question that M3GAN would definitely win. She’s much smarter than Chucky,” he told SyFy during a recent interview.
Allison Williams (Get Out) agrees. “M3GAN’s got this,” the actress said. “It feels so simple to me. M3GAN can just do all of the research there is on Chucky’s weaknesses in a millisecond and figure it out. She has too many resources. It’s not a fair fight.”
Now, it’s worth mentioning that Blum and Williams are the producer and star of M3GAN, respectively, so you might think, ‘Of course they’re going to pick the TikTok dance freak.’ But James Wan, who has a story-by credit on the horror movie, is Team Chucky. “I’m a big Child’s Play fan,” he explained. “They’re playing in different worlds.”
By the time you’re actually reading these words, Kevin McCarthy could be the new Speaker of the House. Or Hakeem Jeffries could be. Or your sister’s boyfriend’s mother’s cousin’s dog walker’s gerbil could have assumed the role. At the time of publication, the House of Representatives is about to start a third round of voting to name the person who will succeed Nancy Pelosi as Republicans take control of the House. Or not.
January 3, 2023 will go down as a strange day in government history. Apparent shyster George Santos — who is under criminal investigation for lying about his entire life and in trouble with authorities in Brazil for writing bad checks to a clothing store for some new threads when he was 19 — is set to be sworn in as a New York congressman. And that’s not even the wild part! For the first time in 100 years, according to ABC News, the House will need to hold multiple votes to determine the new Speaker of the House.
When the GOP flipped the House in November, it seemed a foregone conclusion that House Minority Leader McCarthy would simply slide into the House Majority Leader position (in a desperate bid to win the vote, he even promised to give Marjorie Taylor Greene some actual power). But not everyone on his side of the aisle agreed.
In late November, McCarthy himself warned his fellow Republicans that “if we play games,” Democrats could end up picking the new speaker. (The Dems’ choice? New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries.) That might have done more harm than good.
Ahead of the vote, Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw attempted to lay down the law when he told CNN that any Republicans who refused to vote for McCarthy “are the enemies now.” That didn’t scare anyone either.
BREAKING: Dan Crenshaw says of Republicans who don’t support Kevin McCarthy: “they are the enemies now” and discusses how he and Kevin McCarthy will ruin their careers. https://t.co/XuKtG5dFG0
Despite that stern warning, in the first round of voting a total of 19 Republicans refused to vote for McCarthy; 10 of those votes went to Andy Biggs, six to Jim Jordan, and Jim Banks, Lee Zeldin, and Byron Donalds each received one vote apiece.
All told, as The Hill reported, Jeffries received more votes than McCarthy in the first go-around. So they went at it again — but chaos is still reigning thanks to “Never Kevins” like Matt Gaetz, who voted for Jordan, who voted for McCarthy.
Matt Gaetz just nominated Jim Jordan for Speaker who just nominated Kevin McCarthy.
Again, Jeffries collected more votes in round two than McCarthy did — but not enough to claim a victory. So now they’re ready to try it again and see whether the third time really is the charm — and if so, for whom? The last time multiple votes were needed was in 1923, when these political shenanigans went on for two days and required nine separate votes.
Ultimately, the GOP may only have one option…
McCarthy doesn’t have the votes. Scalise doesn’t have the votes. Biggs doesn’t have the votes.
There’s only one man who can truly unite the Republican Party…
Neurosurgeon, Nobel Prize winner, and WWII hero GEORGE SANTOS.
Last year the national wing chain Wingstop threw its hat into the ongoing chicken sandwich wars and not only did they drop one of the best chicken sandwiches of the year (it even sold out, just like current GOAT Popeyes) they dropped 12 of them! That’s unprecedented in the world of fast food chicken sandwiches. Sure, most chains out there have several options, Chick-fil-A has the Original and Spicy, same deal with Popeyes, Burger King has a handful, and even Shake Shack is known to — pun very much intended, no apologies — shake it up every now and then, but 12?!
12 is a lot of f*cking chicken sandwiches fam. Some would even say, an excessive amount. That’s us, we’re saying it, 12 is too f*cking much. It’s so f*cking much that I feel the need to curse about it every time I write the number “12.” F*ck! There is no way in hell all 12 of them could be good right? Well, we found out so that you don’t have to. Yes, we ate all 12 Wingstop chicken sandwich flavors to determine which are essential and which you should never ever order.
But First… The Fixings
Did I mention that 12 chicken sandwiches is a lot of f*cking chicken sandwiches? Let’s be honest, while 12 is an impressive number, at the end of the day Wingstop’s chicken sandwiches only differ in the sauce and seasoning the chicken filet is tossed in, the rest of the build (pickles and bread) is unchanging so to save some time (yours and mine) I’m just going to go ahead and review the bread and pickles this one time.
The bread is, unfortunately, not great. Earlier I mentioned that Wingstop dropped one of the best chicken sandwiches of the year, but it’s still not the best and the bread is what is holding it back. It’s just not good — way too dense and generally flavorless. If anything, it dampens the flavors of the sandwich. On several occasions I thought about ditching the bread and eating the sandwich with a knife and fork, that’s a bad sign!
If Wingstop wants a better sandwich, they should reformulate this bread. It needs to be airier, more buttery, and maybe even a touch sweeter.
The pickles are… well, pickles. They add some tang to the sandwich and some earthy bitterness but they’re a bit too squishy for my liking, but that’s merely pickle preference. Some people like those swollen juicy pickles that explode when you bite into them, I like a crispier pickle that adds texture. It honestly feels like the pickles are just there because that’s what people expect from a chicken sandwich. For some flavors, I think they’re entirely unnecessary, and I’ll shout out the sandwiches that have pickles but don’t need ‘em.
All right, on to the flavor ranking!
12. Plain
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
I’m not going to say the Wingstop Plain chicken sandwich is gross but I can’t say that it’s good either. The chicken is tender and juicy, but the breading isn’t well seasoned enough for this to taste enjoyable. I’m getting a mix of black pepper and garlic and onion powder, but little else.
Who is getting Plain? Why is this even a flavor at Wingstop? If you want fried chicken, go to Popeyes, if you want a plain chicken sandwich, go to… Popeyes, or hell, even Burger King, don’t come to Wingstop and pay over $6 for a flavorless chicken sandwich.
The Bottom Line:
Boring and it really puts into perspective just how weak the bread and pickles are.
11. Hawaiian
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Full disclosure, I love Wingstop’s Hawaiian wings, but as a chicken sandwich? This one misses the mark. You get some sweetness here with a tiny hint of tang, but it needs a sour component for it to translate. If this had a slice of grilled pineapple in it, it would make the sandwich, but as it stands the sweet and tangy flavors clash with the pickles, which offer a briney saltier tang that just doesn’t play well with the sauce.
This thing is so close to being good though, just imagine it built upon a Hawaiian Sweet Roll. So many possibilities that Wingstop just ignores.
The Bottom Line:
A great wing flavor but a major swing and a miss as a chicken sandwich. If Wingstop put a little more care into the fixings, it would make this sandwich work, but as it stands, it doesn’t gel with the base.
10. Mild
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Take this one with a grain of salt — I have a very high spice tolerance, so, to my tastebuds, this just tastes like a boring version of another flavor (Original Hot). It’s tossed in a light buffalo-style hot sauce that doesn’t even register as a subtle burn on my tastebuds, it comes across as more sweet than anything.
At the end of the day, Wingstop makes better sweet sandwiches if that is what your tastebuds are more geared toward, and if you actually like heat, this just doesn’t cut it.
The Bottom Line:
If you have a low tolerance for spicy food, this is a good-tasting sandwich, but if you can handle the heat, it barely registers as anything at all.
9. Lemon Pepper
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
I think this will probably be the most divisive entry in this ranking. I know a lot of people who swear by this sandwich, Lemon Pepper is a top-five flavor at Wingstop but I’ve noticed something about the people who tell me that the Lemon Pepper makes for a great sandwich: none of them are food writers.
Now I’m not saying I’m blessed with better tastebuds, but I taste a lot of different foods and flavor combinations. Believe me when I tell you this one doesn’t work. It has a sour, tangy, lemon-forward flavor that doesn’t mix at all with the pickles. It’s almost wince-inducing, there is no balance here, it’s like eating intensely sour candy.
For that reason, I suggest you order this one without pickles. Without pickles, this is a massively better sandwich, especially if you dip it in one of Wingstop’s creamier sauces (blue cheese or ranch, take your pick). Unfortunately, I couldn’t rank this without pickles, so it is what it is.
The Bottom Line:
Order it without pickles. Every time.
8. Louisiana Rub
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
This one hurts personally because Lousiana Rub is my all-time favorite Wingstop flavor for wings but as a sandwich? It’s way too dry. Wingstop has decided that their sandwiches should be sauceless and for the most part, that makes sense. Most of the flavors are in fact sauces, so it doesn’t make sense to spread a layer of mayo onto these sandwiches. But this is a dry-rub, so across the palate, it comes across as way too dry.
The mix of flavors is great, there is a zesty blast of flavor that combines cayenne, paprika, black pepper, and garlic which all pair very nicely with the pickles, but it desperately needs to be dipped in a sauce to make the flavors all come together. As it stands, it just comes across like it’s missing something.
The Bottom Line:
If you like the zesty salty flavors of this seasoning, luckily Wingstop has a similar flavor that comes across as a lot more delicious.
7. Mango Habanero
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
I can’t be the only one who is constantly disappointed by habanero-flavored foods. The habanero is an amazing chili pepper, it has an intense spice that burns the throat and ignites the palate, but it balances itself out with a lot of bright citrus tones which keep it from being a chore to get through. A lot of chili peppers come across as a challenge to eat, not a pleasure (we’re looking at you, Scorpion and Ghost pepper!) but the habanero allows you to enjoy intense heat while still actually tasting good.
Where am I going with this? Well, habanero-flavored foods almost never actually taste like habanero peppers. This is spicy, no doubt, but not nearly as hot as I want it to be. That element of bright citrus is there, and by mixing mango notes in there you get some round fruity sweetness added to the equation, which is nice, but it’s just not spicy enough. Not for what the name would suggest. It’s good, but not great.
The Bottom Line:
It’s sweet, citrusy, and bright, but not all that spicy.
6. Garlic Parm
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
After eating the Garlic Parmesan chicken sandwich from Wingstop I’ve come to the conclusion that there aren’t nearly enough Garlic Parmesan chicken sandwiches on the market. This is a great flavor for a chicken sandwich, it’s buttery, intensely savory, salty, and nutty with a constantly shifting expression of flavors that never tastes boring. Unfortunately, it suffers from Wingstop’s “one build fits all” sandwich style.
This would taste massively more delicious if it had some marinara sauce spread on the bun. That simple change would bump it up to top-three status.
The Bottom Line:
A great sandwich marred by Wingstop’s lack of imagination.
5. Original Hot
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
This is likely the flavor Wingstop tested out most heavily when they formulated this chicken sandwich, which makes sense as it’s probably the chain’s most popular flavor. Everything about this sandwich just works, the sauce brings this nice balance of heat and sweetness, and the pickles elevate it to a new height with the infusion of earthy, tangy, salty flavors.
It tastes remarkably well-balanced like it doesn’t need anything to make it better.
The Bottom Line:
If you’re on the fence about a Wingstop chicken sandwich, start here, it’ll convince you the chain has something to say in the chicken sandwich wars.
4. Cajun
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Remember during the Lousiana Rub write-up when I mentioned there was another sandwich with similar flavors but a better execution? This is that sandwich. The Cajun mixes prominent spicy notes with a hint of salt and zest. It comes across as much more interesting to the palate than the “hot,” but considerably less spicy.
While I love a spicy sandwich, I’ll take flavor over heat any day and the mix of smokey paprika, cayenne and black pepper with a touch of sweet heat make this sandwich a winner.
The Bottom Line:
Similar to the Original Hot with a little more for your tastebuds to latch onto.
3. Hickory Smoked BBQ
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Like the Original Hot and the Cajun, the Hickory Smoked BBQ offers a more interesting mix of similar flavors. Unlike the Cajun, you’ve got just as much heat as the Original Hot, but it has a nice smokey and sweet component to it that makes it come across as much more interesting and enjoyable than the plain old Hot offers.
Notes of brown sugar molasses mingle with smoked tones and a heat that grows on the tongue with each bite. By the end of your sandwich your mouth will be watering for more and that’s always a sign of a great sandwich.
The Bottom Line:
Smokey, sweet, and spicy. On certain days, this can win the number one spot.
2. Atomic
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Be warned, if you have a low spice tolerance, don’t even try the Atomic. It’s absurdly hot. But if you can handle the heat, buckle up, because this sandwich is an absolute joy to eat.
Once you bite into it you’re met with an initial tinge of sweetness that quickly ramps up to a tastebud-burning heat. Before you’re done with your first bite, your mouth will be on fire. The wet buffalo-style sauce keeps each bite from coming across as too dry on the throat but just barely, if you aren’t careful, this sandwich will send you into a coughing fit. Even if your spice tolerance is high, you’re going to have watery eyes by the end of this meal.
The Bottom Line:
Intensely hot, only for the biggest spicy food fanatics. If your tolerance isn’t high, you’re not even going to enjoy this.
1. Spicy Korean Q
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
The Spicy Korean Q is without a doubt Wingstop’s best chicken sandwich. It has everything the hot, cajun, and Hickory BBQ offer: a blend of sweet and spicy flavors that slap the tastebuds to attention and cause your salivary glands to water in the best way, but add a lot more depth of flavor. Unlike the BBQ, this sauce isn’t just sweet, it’s earthy, herbal, and almost floral. Notes of ginger, garlic, and the snap of sriracha and red pepper create this unique bouquet of flavors that hit you in waves.
Just when you think the sandwich is too rich, it ramps up the heat, and vice versa, it’s constantly shifting in this perfect balance of sweet and spicy. If Wingstop just replaced those pickles with kimchi, then BAM, this would be the best chicken sandwich in the game.
The Bottom Line:
Dangerously close to being the most delicious chicken sandwich you’ll ever eat. Hands down Wingstop’s best and a perfect balance of flavors. This sandwich is the best representative of what the Wingstop chicken sando does right.
The 2023 World Darts Championship came to its conclusion on Tuesday night at the Alexandra Palace in London, with a heavyweight matchup between Michael Smith and Michael Van Gerwen. The two are both capable of producing showstopping darts and it didn’t take long for the fireworks to begin.
After MVG pinched the first set off the Smith throw, it was Bully Boy’s turn to break right back against the Dutch legend in what is, unquestionably, the best leg of darts in history. Both men started with six perfect darts (180/177 and 180/180), with MVG then hitting a pair of treble 20s to set up a chance at a perfect leg, needing double 12 for a nine-darter. He missed just high, giving Smith the stage for the chance at the same, and Smith didn’t miss, finding T20, T19, and D12 to send the Ally Pally into absolute pandemonium.
THE BEST LEG OF ALL TIME!
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN MISSES D12 FOR A NINE-DARTER, AND THEN SMITH PINS A PERFECT LEG HIMSELF!
It’s only the second nine-darter in World Championship Final history (Adrian Lewis, 2011) and showed the level both of these men are at, battling not just for the world title but also the No. 1 ranking in the world. A nine-darter is, for my money, the best minute of drama and entertainment you can find in sports television, and Smith and MVG delivered an absolute thriller to set the tone for their final duel.
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New Year… Same Hustle
